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How clean is your electricity?

‘Dirty electricity’ is a phenomenon few of us have heard about but it could be affecting the lives of millions of people around the world, according to new research.

Basically, dirty electricity is a power quality problem generated primarily by modern electrical appliances and lighting systems.

Sources of dirty electricity include:

  • Computers
  • Variable-speed motors
  • Television sets
  • Entertainment units
  • Energy-efficient lighting
  • Energy-efficient appliances
  • Dimmer switches
  • Power tools
  • Arcing on power lines
  • Mobile-phone antennas
  • Broadcast antennas.

Until recently, dirty electricity was thought to be a problem only for the utility companies, but it is now emerging as a serious public-health issue – possibly responsible for a host of common illnesses including asthma, diabetes, depression and cancer.

There are a few websites providing useful information on dirty electricity (www.dirtyelectricity.ca; www.dirtyelectricity.org) , but a full report on the phenomenon – what it is, who’s affected and what we can do about it – can be found in the September issue of What Doctors Don’t Tell You.  It will be with subscribers on Saturday, August 30th.  If you would like to subscribe, please click here.
Published 12 August 2008 13:20 by Joanna Evans
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User links about "antennas" on iLinkShare said:

August 20, 2008 13:00
 

Gillian Cooper said:

Yes I agree.   I feel very tired near computers and try to avoid spending too much time on one.

August 20, 2008 20:49
 

Andy Lewis said:

You are missing a much worse phenomenon - heavy electricity.

Richard Briers, Nick Owen. Jenny Powel and Stephen Berkoff have produced a video to highlight the hell of this modern disaster. Please watch it - but only if you do not cry easily. Think of the children...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJCxJWwkHdQ

September 1, 2008 17:31
 

Safe Sue said:

Andy Lewis runs www.quackometer.net, a pro industry blog along the lines of such as Goldacre in The Guardian with info from their sister organisation, The Science Media Centre   www.sciencemediacentre.org and their industry buddies.

September 2, 2008 00:02
 

Sara said:

Hi

this is a serious issue

practical information on what one can do about this can be found on

http://www.fixyourownhealth.co.uk/

September 2, 2008 15:31
 

Andy Lewis said:

Safe Sue - you really have an overactive imagination! Yes, I run quackometer.net. But it is not funded by industry or controlled/managed/dictated to by any other individual organization. It is all my own work - and that work is to question dubious health claims, pseudoscience and daft thinking.

Dirty electricity is all those things. And Chris Morris (in the above YouTube link) parodies the way society loves to believe in such things and how celebrities unthinkingly promote nonsense. If you want to look for vested interests, perhaps you ought to look for links between people who produce scaresites like 'dirty electricity' and other sites that then claim to be able to solve the 'problem' - at a price. Its a classic quack trick. Invent a new scare - offer a cure. The site dirtyelectricity.org is registered to a "Jeff Dragt". Googling will reveal the other sort of things he is up to. Does this raise any alarm bells? dirtyelectricity.ca is registered to a "Kevin Byrne Marketing Inc.". The site links to stetzerelectric.com which provides 'solutions' to dirty electricity. It would also appear that Kevin Byrne is offering testimonials for Stetzer filters. Powerwatch in the UK had set up a similar system  - scaresite linked to solutionsite.

http://www.quackometer.net/blog/2007/04/electrosensitivity-caused-by-wi-fi-and.html

Does it not worry you that these site are just plain made up nonsense? (Which they are). How could you tell? Is it preying on your ignorance of electricity? Look how easily Richard Briers and Nick Owen were convinced to read out utter rubbish in praise of a made up scare in the above video. Are you sure the same thing is not happening to you? The other possibility is that this site is in on it.

September 2, 2008 20:07
 

Mike Maybury said:

I tend to agree with Andy.

I have not researched though, due to many more interesting things to do.

I'm in pretty perfect health at 73, having eaten a wholefood plant-based diet all my adult life.

I watch TV for too long. VCR and DVD recorders are part of the array.

For several years I was sat in front of a computer 4 hours daily, clicking several times a minute trading the markets.

I used an electric underblanket for many years too, with no apparent effect on health.

I live a rather unnatural life, perched about 150 feet in the air, balanced in a sanddwich of electrically heated floor and ceiling.

September 22, 2008 01:51
 

ImmaG said:

In times of recession we need to stay healthy and prevent sickness, since it’s too expensive to go to hospital and pay big medical bills. And in addition to that, now that it is summer (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere and North Poles) and that means that the electric bill is going up.  Air conditioning gets expensive, as is heating, as summer and winter are the seasons that send the electric bill up with abandon.  A lot of people get sent running for a payday loan to cover the utilities bill.  One of the things you can do to save money is to save electricity.  Appliances you can afford to not run all the time should be turned off or unplugged.  Turn the light off when you leave any room.  Use Energy Star rated appliances if possible.  If you follow smart energy practices, then you probably won't need installment loans for the <a href="http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/04/22/summer-electric-bill/">electric bill</a>. The things to remember on how to avoid big loans are to save more and spend your cash wisely, try to live a simple life and enjoy things that are affordable and useful every now and then.

April 28, 2009 10:29

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